Peter Gentle lashes tackle-shy Broncos and urges players not to embarrass retiring champion Darius Boyd
The Broncos should be alongside the Roosters as an NRL powerhouse. Instead, they are a rabble. Not only has Anthony Seibold destroyed Brisbane’s culture, he’s now left his hapless assistant to mop up the mess.
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Broncos caretaker Peter Gentle has lashed his tackle-shy troops and appealed for Brisbane players not to embarrass retiring teammate Darius Boyd in his final month in the NRL.
Sacked Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold should hang his head in shame at the shambolic state in which he has left the NRL’s richest club in the wake of the Broncos’ 58-12 rout against the Roosters at the SCG.
The Broncos should be alongside the Roosters as an NRL powerhouse. Instead, they are an abject rabble.
Not only has Seibold destroyed Brisbane’s culture in just 20 months, he raised the white flag a month early, leaving his hapless assistant Gentle to mop up the mess in a desperate bid to avoid the wooden spoon.
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Brisbane powerbrokers should be humiliated at the sight of Gentle – an affable assistant who has no aspirations to be a head coach – having to explain the side’s repeated defensive debacles.
Now firmly in Seibold’s hot seat, Gentle watched the Roosters pile on 10 tries and he implored Broncos players to show some defensive heart or risk another belting against high-flying Penrith this Thursday night.
“It doesn’t matter who we play, we have to be better than that,” he said.
“We don’t help ourselves with the ball and we are compounding it with bad decisions in defence.
“We are good in patches, but it’s not acceptable to lose like that, we just had a chat about how we fix it.
“I know it’s been a tough year, but we can’t serve that up again for the next four weeks.”
While the Broncos can’t make the finals, they have every incentive to have a crack in the final four weeks.
Aside from trying to sidestep the wooden spoon, the Broncos will farewell their most decorated current player in Boyd, who plays his 334th NRL game against the Panthers at Suncorp Stadium.
Given his outstanding service to the club, Boyd deserves to finish with some semblance of credibility and Gentle challenged Brisbane players to step up for him.
“We’ve spoken about that (Boyd retiring) several times, there are a few reasons to play still,” he said.
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“The Roosters have won two comps but we have to learn some lessons. I know we are playing Penrith but we have to be better.”
Gentle rejected suggestions the emotion of the Seibold saga had affected the playing group.
“I’m not going to give them a get out there,” he said. “We were prepared to play, I’m not going to give the guys or any of us an excuse.
“It’s been a long year but we have to aim up.
“The guys are disappointed with some individual efforts, they let each other down and went against our defensive principles.
“This is their job and we have to be back up against Penrith next week.”
Originally published as Peter Gentle lashes tackle-shy Broncos and urges players not to embarrass retiring champion Darius Boyd